gigot, happy new year to all of you. we hope to see you right here we hope to see you right here next week. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. >> fox news watch looks back at a decade of news. the conflicts, assaults, controversy, decisions, politics, scandals, fears, losses. ♪ >> justice, the odd, terror, war, the good, the bad, the ugly, the aftermath and change. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> jon: on the panel this week, writer and fox news contributor judy miller, syndicated columnist, cal thomas, jim pinkerton fellow new america foundation and news day columnist, ellen.

i'm jon scott, fox news watch is on right now. the year 2000, the new millennium, the beginning of a new decade of news and news coverage. the y2k bug was the big story of 2000, it quickly became a big bust. u.s. agents seize refugee elian gonzalez and after a long standoff sent him back to cuba. the u.s.s. cole attacked by terrorists in yemen, 17 american sailors were killed. figuring out the winner of the presidential election delayed due to ballot snafus in florida. the u.s. supreme court took on the issue, made a decision and 36 days after voters had gone to the polls, democratic presidential candidate al gore conceded the election to his republican challenger, texas governor george w. bush. he would become the nation 43rd president. jim, elliss, if you had to sum up that 2000 election fiasco in

a few words, how would you roux describe it? >> i would say the reporters all voted for al gore in 2000, but they didn't like him. they liked bush much better so bush perversely got pretty good press in that year. >> jon: and was that reflected, elliss, in the coverage, do you think of the standoff? >> riveting would be the word i would use. i think it was one of those political stories, jon, that got people who don't care about politics engaged. a lot of them were angry, but, yeah, i think the coverage by and large was one of the high points of the decade. >> jon: and seemed to go on and on and on and so strange remembering. >> it mattered. >> jon: yeah, you didn't know who your next president was going to be for more than a. >> i mean, truly the beginning of the decade maybe the best single political story of the decade. >> jon: and perhaps the biggest story of the decade in 2001, the september 11th terror attacks, more than 3000 people are killed in new york, washington d.c., and shanksville, pennsylvania.

was it a high point or a low point for media coverage? i mean, it really was the story of the decade, wasn't it? >> well, at that point i was working at the new york times, which won i think seven pulitzers for the coverage we did, lead up to that horrific event. i think it was an amazing period for news, jon, i think that everybody finally caught up with the story of the formation of militants groups like al-qaeda, the names that we now take for granted that we're seeing all over the world, we began to understand that they were really up to, and it was a moment of incredible challenge for the media and i think they rose pretty well to it at the beginning. >> jon: i remember the feeling of unity that came out of those attacks and it lasted a while. >> yeah. >> jon: it seems to be gone now. >> it does indeed. i agree with everything that judy said. i think that it's important to remember that the media had ample opportunities to cover the story, to connect the dots before 9/11. i interviewed tom fenton, then

just retired from cbs news who had written a book on this subject about why we didn't know more about what was coming before 9/11. he said he was constantly trying to get on the air with stories about this and his producers in new york said nobody wants to hear about foreign news, we can't even pronounce those names. so, he knew and many others knew what was coming, but it couldn't get on the air and it couldn't get in the newspapers because we were preoccupied with other things. >> jon: 2002, the catholic church gets rocked by sex scandals. american idol debuts on the fox network. three weeks of deadly sniper attacks around washington d.c. ten dead three wounded. trent lott resigns as senate republican leader after praising retiring senator strom thurmon, but the top story of the year, the war on terror continued and u.s. and afghan troops continued the largest ground assault in the u.s. led military campaign since the war began in october of 2001. what did you think of the press

coverage as the war began there? >> i think that the afghanistan war back then was very popular to cover. i think that was, as cal indicated, that's when the country was really united behind among other people president bush. we remember president bush's pitch in the yankees world series 2001, but that halo of goodwill ga goodwill carried over to 2002. >> jon: cal, your take there? >> well, i think that the unity was good and we all celebrated including the media and many remember the controversy over american flag lapel pins not only on this network, tom brokaw on nbc had to defend himself not wearing the american flag pin and got to be incredibly silly. the job of the press, yes, is to sing the praises of america when america does well, but it's also to question authority and to the extent that it gets on the rah, rah band wagon it's not

fulfilling its obligation. >> jon: let's talk about 2003, space shuttle columbia breaks apart on reentry, killing everyone aboard and scattering debris across texas and louisiana. and elizabeth smart found in utah, abducted from her bedroom. martha stewart, jail was in her future. and california elected arnold schwarzenegger as governor. and the story of the year, shock and awe as president bush declares war on iraq. jim, your thoughts about that, you know, momentous-- >> again, just to make that list is a reminder how much the media can get lost on stories and frankly aren't that important. elizabeth smart was a tragedy to her father and some americans, but iraq war was more on that and the media picked up on that. >> jon: and the media were accused to giving too much

support to the war in iraq when it began. >> it was clear our coverage was gull ab, naive to use cal's words boosterish and here we are all suffering suffering years later that those questions were not asked in a direct and pointed way as we wandered into these wars in iraq and afghanistan, is the most disappointing moment of the media in the decade. >> jon: a lot of the history of the war is yet to be written. >> maybe ten years later, but boy where we sit now we should have been tougher then. >> jon: time for break and lots of extras available on our website, including some discussion that is erupt during the break and hear them after the show foxnews.com/fox news watch. we'll be back in two minutes to talk more about the coverage of this remarkable decade. >> a decade of news rolls on as howard dean gets excited. >> ahh! >> evidence of prisoner abuse goes public and americans mourn

the passing of a favored president. the world mourns the passing after favored pope and a killer hurricane changes everything. how did the press shape the coverage? details next on news watch.

>> 2004 was not lacking for major news stories. democratic presidential candidate howard dean gives a speech in iowa after coming in third in the caucuses there to senators kerry and edwards that ends in a scream. >> and then we're going to washington d.c. to take back the white house, ahh! >> a wardrobe malfunction turns a half time program into a peep show. the nation mourns the death of ronald reagan at age 93 he's lived longer than any other former president. senator john kerry accepts the democratic presidential nomination, but the biggest story of the year took place in april when cbs news man dan rather and the staff of 60 minutes, too, first break the

story of abuse by american g identify's at abu ghraib prison in iraq. those photos, judy from abu ghraib, shocking obviously, the press coverage of them pretty thorough, what did it do for coverage of the war and maybe the conduct of the war? >> i think it began to change the way in which americans and a lot of reporters thought about the war. until then, it was-- there hadn't been as that was pointed out, a lot of questioning of our need to do it. abu ghraib was shocking, shocking development because it was-- we all know that bad things happen in war, but they're rarely caught on camera as this one was and the tone of the coverage totally changed after that. >> would you say, judy, the new york times might have overcovered it a little bit? >> well, it depends on what you mean by overcovered (laughter) >> that's a bill clintonism. >> let's take a look at 2005. president george w. bush begins his second term. pope john paul ii, the world'

pope dies and 17 days later german cardinal rahsinger elected to the papacy and taking the name the 16th. and michael jackson found not guilty. and suicide bombers underground. hurricane katrina hits new orleans and the gulf coast, elliss we've got to start with you on that one you're a louisiana native. your memories of the coverage of it. >> two categories, in the early days, marvelous, early print and television that did ensure even though the government responded so ineptly to it that eventually americans would need to respond to it. of course, we have a short attention span in the media coverage and years later gosh, i wish we could get people interested in it again. >> jon: jim. >> i agree the initial story was compelling and astonishing to people things could go this wrong and a story line that was

all george w. bush's fault and satisfied them completely for the years after that. >> jon: 2006, the sago mine disaster in west virginia, 13 miners trapped, 12 died before rescuers reached them. mel gibson, he drinks a little too much and busted for dui looking like we've never seen him before. the krk dial hunter steve irwin is killed in a freak encounter with a stingray, saddam hussein executed at dawn in baghdad and on february 11th a story that the media still talks about three years later, vice-president dick cheney accidentally shoots and wounds his 78-year-old hunting partner, harry whittington while on a quail hunt at a ranch in texas. the hunting accident, it's sort of the gift that keeps on giving for main street media, isn't it judy? >> it really did. we went straight from the pictures of people stranded on roof tops in new orleans, the inability of the federal

government to the bush administration to respond, straight, straight to dick cheney shooting his friend with a rifle. i mean, it couldn't have been better. >> shotgun. >> shotgun. >> there we go. >> na, na. >> i'm not an outdoor girl. >>, but you know, it really set the entire tone, anything was fair game now. >> and fair game, was the coverage fair? >> it was fair enough. >> i mean. >> yeah. if no one dies these stories are a lot more fun. >> if joe biden had done it he'd be center ice on "saturday night live," too. >> jon: all right, time for another break, more on the coverage of the top stories of this decade. >> the press focused on firsts, nancy pelosi becomes the speaker, sarah palin gets the g.o.p. nod, and barack obama makes history. plus, a big tragedy in virginia, a big ripoff, and a big scandal

at walter reed all next on news watch. 

>> let's begin this segment with a look at the top five stories of 2007. nancy pelosi becomes the first woman ever elected speaker of the house of representatives. a federal jury convicts i lewis scooter l scooter libby, former chief of staff. a shooter at virginia tech kills 32 people. a highway bridge over the miss misriver collapses during rush hour. the top media story of the year at walter reed army medical center after "the washington post" launches an investigation into the mishandling of reports of soldiers injured in iraq and

afghanistan had received poor treatment there. that story was such a surprise, judy. i mean, people like to think that our soldiers at least for all of their sacrifices are getting the best carry and the media blew the lid off it. >> it was a great piece of reporting at "the washington post." it was really the kind of reporting that everybody could acknowledge. this is obvious what the pulitzer prize is going to be this year, because it's such an important story that had such resonance for everyone and it ran counter to our impressions and our stereotypes about va care. >> jon: and most people think that the army is a pretty well-run organization and you give orders and get things done. >> and to the army's credit they got rid of the secretary and a bunch of officers apso the army has a capacity for renewal that you don't see the department of housing and urban development. >> jon: let's move on to 2008. the year more recent history, obviously, oil hits $100 a barrel for the first time.

senator barack obama wins the iowa democratic caucus while former arkansas governor mike huckabee wins the state's republican caucus and obama goes on to beat rival hillary clinton in eight consecutive contests and win the party's presidential nomination after the winning the republican nomination, john mccain picks sarah palin as his running mate and the first for ticket for the white house. and the housing bubble bursts and the story reaches the climb ma max when barack obama is the first. >> a good human story, it mattered, america has truly gone in a different direction sincen you know, you can say some of it was overly emotional and gullible, nobody couldn't say

it's not a phenomenal story. >> jon: we talked about how the press got on the obama band wagon early. has that changed? >> somewhat, let me just return to something quickly. i grew up in segregated washington and remember when the newspapers of that day in the history had black pages, they had news, black news, it was very difficult for an african-american, a negro as they were called in the media then, to get the kind of coverage, debutante balls, they were all segregated. there was tremendous progress made. i as an american, washington ee proud we would elect an african-american, but focus on the color of his skin than the content of character. >> i think they focused on everything about him and obama's and his popularity throughout the world is interesting. american policy is still not popular, but barack obama remains popular around the world and i think if he still remains

popular with an awful lot of reporters, too. >> jon: and now a look at the top stories of 2009, a year we just bid goodbye to this week. hero pilot sully sullenberger safely lands his crippled plane in the hudson river. bernie madoff pleads guilty to a massive fraud that apparently stole 65 billion or so dollars from investors. michael jackson, the king of pop dies in los angeles. army psychologist nidal hasan opens fire on military personnel in fort hood texas killing 14. and the coverage that january on january 20th when barack obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the united states. jim, you're chomping at the bit. >> i would connect two of those, obama and fort hood. i think that the obama administration's response or lack of response to the fort hood shooting and all the discoveries we've made about muslim jihadist infiltration

into the united states is going to prove to be the biggest story of 2009 and frankly, obama's term in office. >> jon: judy. >> i think that the phenomenon of home grown radicalization will be certainly the national security story of 2009. i have to agree with you, jim. >> jon: all right. you're jumping a little bit ahead of us because we're going to get into that. ellis, your take on president obama and his year just completed. >> well, it reminds you that a really huge story one year can produce an almost as huge story the second year. you know, we're finding this out. it's too soon to have real perspective on it, but you do have to say from the noble to the war issues to the health care issue all of that goes back to january 2 and back to november as well. >> jon: cal? >> well, look, the expectations levels were so high coming in, i think he's coming down to earth. people are realizing even in the media he's a human being with if not feet of clay then certainly not feet of iron. >> jon: what about the white

house handling of the press corps? has there been a major change since the obama administration took over. >> i don't think they've changed. i mean, robert gibbs is getting bad reviews, that's sort of astonishing to me they plain don't like him for what that's worth. >> there's always tension, and oh, my goodness, the white house press corps doesn't like a press secretary, is that what you're saying? >> are you shocked, shocked ellis? >> you've acted like peter sallinger for kennedy, they loved him. and there have been genuine love affairs between press secretaries and white houses and this is not one of them. >> jon: judy, your take? >> i think it's proceeding as one would expect the first year to proceed. he's making some mistakes, some of them he's being called on and some he's not. i think on balance what the media is it saying to itself this year is a lot more skepticism. we need to be more skeptical. >> jon: we need to take one more break. when we come back our panel tells what they think we can expect in the new decade just

beginning. >> the new millennium's first decade of news was no snooze. what we can expect in 2010 and beyond. that's next on news watch. i needed more customers, so i got my nephew to build a website. i hired someone to make my website... five months ago. we are building a website by ourselves. a create your own small-business site with intuit websites. just choose a style that fits your business and customize, publish and get found in three easy steps. sweet. all from just $4.99 a month, get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com.

ok. oomph. i'm a mommy. i love kids! i'm responsible, loving, nurturing. oooph. momma's coming, baby! [panting, grunts] ah! ah! ahhhh!

all: mamma! [baby dinosaurs laugh] sid: [laughs] ha ha, no, stop, stop. >> jon: we have spent most of the time period reviewing the first decade of the century. we have witnessed the powerful impact of cable news, internet. youtube, even twitter. on wait on how they cover stories. what can we expect from the media in this new decade. cal, you are up? >> i think there is going to be growing cynicism about the obama's policies finally. >> jon: media cynicism? >> yes. we said on the show, while many of us believe most reporters are liberals, what they like even better than seeing their own policies advance is a good story. as the president continues to

sink in the polls, i think it will be less positive coverage. >> cal is right about the good story. others we may have quibbles on. but who is going to tell the story? i think the print reporters who do the vast majority of the heavy lifting in this business, continuing to decline, their papers are having increasing troubles. somebody has to dream up a new thing. >> you have to wonder about the survive built of traditional reportlogy. >> i'm particularly worried about foreign reporting. it involves a lot of travel. most people don't want to go to. it's very expensive and it's not going to happen. already, newspapers are being forced to take people out of iraq to cover afghanistan because they don't have enough money for both. >> but can you rely, is there a model, i don't know has a

journalism call on youtube or facebook. i think something will emerge. government is going to step in some way and bail out some of the newspapers, in the next few years. >> terrible. >> the reporters will be for it. >> i think longer term, seek some kind of merger, like facebook with content. you're going to see more people watching the same show on their facebook page as a group like a collective experience than we've seen so far. content is still king and i think by the end of this decade we'll see that people are consuming content throughs the new media yeah social networks. >> by prediction by the end of the decade one of the big three networks will not be doing an evening newscast. the demand just isn't there. people, when you have cable news why put on an expensive news five nights a wk?